It wasn't horrible, VDB, really. I was living in Manchester until 1978. Where the bomb went off there was a nice M&S, and round the corner from that there was a Safeways. Opposite that was St Anne's Square, and a cafe called Meng & Ecker. The yellow of the Arndale was gorgeous against the blue sky on a sunny day, and the white of the Ramada hotel (as it now is) looking modern and futuristic.

A shabby-looking building can sometimes be made to look good again with just a clean and a bit of TLC, plus relatively light interior work to bring it up to snuff. But what you often find in urban planning are architect types and their buddies who are very scathing about existing statuesque buildings, and who deliberately dismiss any form of renovation because they have a vested interest in their trade. The same people then wax lyrical about the replacement that turns out to be plug-ugly lowrise ticky-tack shit, and when they can't get away with it any more, they go quiet on you. With experience you get wise to this kind of thing.

No I was born in 1995, but I've seen pictures of how Market St, High St, Shudehill, Corporation St and Piccadilly looked and its so depressing. Everyone I've ever met has said the city was horrible in the 80s!

As far as I'm aware the redevelopment before the bomb was limited to Castlefield, but there's no doubt the bomb would have sped things up a bit. The Trafford centre was completed in 1998, and the city centre would have had to develop in order to compete. Regeneration was on its way with the Commonwealth games, too, which were won by Manchester the year before the bomb.

Regeneration would have been slower, but I've no doubt it would have happened anyway, regardless of the bomb.

The Piccadilly area would have been developed next, pre bomb.

I wouldn't go that far. 80s and early 90s Manchester was a great place. Plenty of mistakes have been made since 1996.

And to those saying it was the best thing... it wasn't. It helped regenerate that particular area, at the expense of a lot of serious injuries and plenty of shop owners having financial issues.

Share:By James Graham - Deputy Editor, North West
CGI of new Learning Commons at Manchester University
MANCHESTER University has seen an increase in the number of inventions coming through the institution, and in licensing revenue.

According to newly-filed accounts for The University of Manchester I3 - which handles the commercialisation of the university's intellectual property - the number of invention disclosures rose by 18% in the year to July to 371.

Licensing income was up by 20% to £1.14m, which chairman Dr Krishnamurthy Rajagopal said was the highest figure so far.

He said: "The University of Manchester continues to be well-regarded for its work and is seen to be amongst the top performing UK universities in intellectual property commercialisation."

During the period the university received £677,000 from exits and its portfolio of spin-outs attracted £16m of private equity.

The university works closely with industry to help finance early stage innovations and has partnerships with Johnson & Johnson, as well as Scottish and Southern Energy Power Distribution and the National Grid, which are involved in an energy innovation fund.

University of Manchester I3 receives most of its income in the form of a management fee from the university. During the period income was up to £4.6m from £4.3m, while it made a pre-tax loss of £10,000, down from a profit of £4,900 last time.

Europe's largest public-private partnership dedicated to sustainable pharmaceutical manufacturing techniques is being led by Manchester University and GlaxoSmithKline.

The £21.2m project, dubbed CHEM21, brings together six pharmaceutical companies and 13 universities from across Europe.

It aims to develop sustainable biological and chemical alternatives to materials currently used in pharmaceuticals, which have a finite supply.

They include precious metals, which are used in the manufacture of medicines.

It is hoped that the project will lead to alternatives which will limit the drain on the world&rsquo;s resources and benefit the environment.

Prof Nicholas Turner, of the University's School of Chemistry, said: &ldquo;This is a unique opportunity for academic groups to work alongside pharmaceutical companies and specialist SMEs to develop innovative catalytic processes for pharmaceutical synthesis.

&ldquo;We believe that challenging problems of this nature are best solved on a pan-European basis by bringing together under one roof the combined expertise of many groups to establish a world-class research hub in catalysis and sustainable chemical synthesis.&rdquo;

CHEM21 is a four-year project which is backed by cash from the Innovative Medicines Initiative, a European initiative which aims to speed up the development of better and safer medicines.

GSK's John Baldoni said: &ldquo;Improving the sustainability of our drug manufacturing processes through collaborations such as CHEM21 will not only reduce our industry&rsquo;s carbon footprint, but will provide savings that can be reinvested in the development of new medicines, increase access to medicines through cost-reduction, and drive innovations that will simplify and transform our manufacturing paradigm.&rdquo;

The Board approved the construction of a new Students’ Union building on the Salutation Car Park. The new building would provide fit for purpose, flexible space that would be at the heart of the new Manchester campus. The current SU building was no longer fit for purpose and renovation would require significant investment.

Our Client has no long-term development strategy for this site, because there is no proposal for a permanent use of this site at present. Therefore, we would like to submit a revised temporary period of 3 years to use the car park area at Aytoun building.

I meant to mention a couple of weeks back that the Alan Gilbert Learning Commons was closed down about a week after it opened because of some problem with the glass cladding. Apparently a panel fell out. I don't think that's been mentioned before.

I meant to mention a couple of weeks back that the Alan Gilbert Learning Commons was closed down about a week after it opened because of some problem with the glass cladding. Apparently a panel fell out. I don't think that's been mentioned before.

It happened during the opening period about seven hours before continuous 24/7/365 opening was to begin.
A glass panel cracked and fell in the centre of the building. Had people been in the building (it was full when open), people would have been injured.

Its not listed at the moment. Obviously if the plans show the building will be demolished then I imagine it will listed so it can be preserved. If Charlotte Bronte (a frequent visitor to Manchester) really did start (I assume it is official because of the blue plaque) writing Jane Eyre at The Salutation then it is an obvious cultural building.

OPAL Property Group, the Manchester-based specialist student property developer, is considering a major asset sell-off to help pay back its £886m debt mountain.

According to latest accounts it cost Opal £53m to service debts with 14 lenders, nearly equivalent to its pre-tax profits of £55.4m.

The figures for the year to September show the firm, which employs 546 staff, won short-term extensions on debts of £384m last year.

But £412m with four lenders has already passed a repayment deadline. Last month it struck a standstill agreement until March with all senior lenders that would see it make weekly payments rather than the agreed capital and interest amounts.

In their report the directors said: "During this standstill period the directors, in conjunction with advisers and lenders are considering the future strategy of the group.

"Strategic scenarios under consideration include, but are not limited to, deleveraging the group through one or a combination of selected portfolio disposals, selected individual asset disposals, reprofiling debts with lenders, and the introduction of substantial third-party equity into the group."

Group overheads grew by £3.1m due to professional fees associated with a potential equity deal.

The directors say Opal can meet its working capital requirements, "on the basis that no restrictions are put on cash usage by the lenders". But they warn that insufficient support could result in a break-up of the business which is owned by founder Stuart Wall.

During the year turnover rose by 6% to £143.5m. More than two thirds of revenues, or £102.2m, came from Opal's operational properties which include student lets and flats for professionals, as well as hotels.

This division saw sales growth of 10% which was mainly down to the student accommodation portfolio. Professional lets were flat and hotels grew sales by £250,000. Some £4.4m came from price rises and lease switches, while a further £3m was a one-off benefit from letting student halls during the Olympics.

Sales were static at £41.2m at Opal's construction business Ocon, however, it incurred an operating loss of 5.6% due to project delays. It delivered 1,751 student rooms and completed projects for the universities of Liverpool and Sussex. It has secured sales of £42.4m for 2013 and £25.3m for 2014.

The University of Manchester is moving ahead with the first major project in its ambitious £1bn campus investment plan over the next 10 years.

Procurement bosses at the University have started the search for architects and engineers to deliver design work on the first major project, a £200m engineering campus.

They hope to have a team on board by June to work up plans to allow construction works tenders to be invited in 2014/15.

The £700m first phase will be delivered over the next six years and will throw a lifeline to north west’s building industry.

This phase includes the new engineering campus, new centres for the school of law and Manchester Business School, a major refurbishment of the university library, a bigger students’ union and new medical school.

Investment will also go into building a combined heat and power facility, as well as a new car park and the refurbishment of the telescope at Jodrell Bank.

The University will also spend several million pounds to improve the University’s public realm and landscaping in order to capitalise on the future improvements to Oxford Road, which will see wider pavements, tree-lined boulevards and the removal of all cars during 2015.

Outline plans have been drawn up for a second £300m phase which would begin in 2018 and end in 2022.

This second phase would create a biomedical campus around the existing Stopford Building, a new health centre for staff and students, and includes refurbishments in the schools of computer science, earth, atmospheric and environmental sciences, mathematics and chemistry.

I heard a rumour that the the University of Manchester want to sell some of their older accomdation on the Fallowfied campus and replace it with new accomodation closer to the university in the city centre. Is this true?

I heard a rumour that the the University of Manchester want to sell some of their older accomdation on the Fallowfied campus and replace it with new accomodation closer to the university in the city centre. Is this true?

Wouldn't surprise me. There has been a general trend of students living closer to the city centre in recent years. I lived in Sheffield city centre throughout my time at Sheffield uni because the location was perfect.

__________________
"You design for the present, with an awareness of the past, for a future which is essentially unknown."

Erection of new four storey Students Union building on existing car park. Part of car park to be retained with existing vehicular access points unchanged. Students' Union to contain shop, hall, cafe/bar, studios, meeting rooms and office spaces.